Was Nicolas II a Free Mason?

[matushka]

rskkiya
Wich Romanov were involved in freemasonery? Thank you for answer, it is an interesting information.

[helenazar]

rskkiya
Wich Romanov were involved in freemasonery? Thank you for answer, it is an interesting information.

I know that Alexander I was... not sure about the others. Rsskyia?

[rskkiya]

I think that KR was ...but I don't have any sources to hand...sorry.

[James_Davidov]

All my Great Grandfathers were all Mason’s.

In Australia you find the odd hall dotted through the city and suburbs and in the old gold rush towns.  From what I know (source - my grandmother) it was really just a ‘secretive “ancient” social society’.  They were very conservative, ‘for King and country’ bla blaa blaaa, but mostly it was just a mundane social club, my grandmother remembers how they would have a secret handshake and how the wives would make sandwiches at the meetings.

Its hardly anything sinister, but then again this was the Australian branch..:S

[James_Davidov]

Oh..just a note.

We have these old golf rings with some symbols on them, i'll try to find them and see if i can post them.

[helenazar]

We have these old golf rings with some symbols on them.

You mean this symbol?  

[Alexandra]

Continental Masonry is quite different from that of Scotland, which in turn diverges from that of England. You might be interested to look up a book written by HRH Prince Michael, Duke of Albany, and therefore the continuation of the Continental Stewart/Stuart line, and also information about the Heredom of Kilwinning.

For the record: Masons do NOT kill ANYBODY! As to the secrecy of their rituals, anyone can read about them in any decent library. There may be some areas of obscurity, true, but as a 'society with secrets,' that is about all. One source which touches upon them is Ronald Hutton (cf. his _The Triumph of the Moon_).
The symbol of the Square and Compass enclosing a G is that of the Blue Lodge, and is usually associated with third degree Masonry. Above that, the 14th and 18th degrees, if I recall correctly, are significant, and I believe the latter is connected with a Christian ritual known as Rose Croix Masonry. Above that, one may enter Royal Arch, York Rite, and/or Scottish Rite Masonry; these take one to the 32nd degree. While Masonry is open to all those who adhere to belief in a Supreme being - Roman Catholics, contrary to popular belief, may be and are Masons - some of the paths have specifically Christian imagery, and so, Jews and Muslims may choose not to follow those.
The 33rd degree is awarded as an honor. It is also connected with the Royal Order of Scotland (see also Heredom of Kilwinning), of which the current Lord Elgin(Earl of Elgin and Kincardine), who descends from King Robert the Bruce, is a member.

One might also investigate the Order of Constantine and Aethelstan Lodge.

I do not know which, if any, of these were brought by Scots to Russia, but it would be an interesting endeavor to research it. Continental Masonry may have had links to the Illuminati, the Hellfire Clubs,  and the Rosicrucians, inter alia;  and it would be most interesting to know what blend was to be found in the Russian lodges. Serge Saltykov, the probable father of Pavel I, was a Freemason; and so, quite possibly, was Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams, who was definitely associated with the Hellfire Clubs of 18th C. London.

[rskkiya]

Freemasonry is currently a bevevolence society popular in western Europe and America...There are masonic temples or meeting houses in almost every large city. While there is a vaguely exotic element mythically attached to the freemasons from the 17th -18th centuries -(and still cultivated by some masons for its dramatic cache) it's really only because in the 17th century, it was not openly encouraged to organise any social groups without church involvement...Most myths about an ancient lineage from Egypt or even Altantis are just historical jokes!

Freemasons have beeen blamed for all sorts of conspiracies from the French Revolution to the World Trade Towers ... but this is really just a lot of silliness! Today most freemasons meet to make business contacts and to raise funds for charity...

rskkiya
(Not a freemason)

Some Freemasons may have gone to Russia under Catherine, but I am afraid that I do not know that for certain. Like many western things, it had its appeal for some russians. I agree - many of the rumours about Dark FreeMasonic Cults are simply sillyness!

[matushka]

Alexandra, Mason was excommunicated by the Catholic Church a long time. Only in 1982, if my memory is good (in any case, in the 1980´s), the article of the Canon Law of this Church which forbid Freemasonry was retired. It was by the initiative of Cardinal Konig, Austrian bishop, whose help was decisive for the election of John Paul II.

[bluetoria]

Catholics are still forbidden to become Freemasons,  despite the ambiguity in the 1983 declaration:

"The Church has imposed the penalty of excommunication on Catholics who become Freemasons. The penalty of excommunication for joining the Masonic Lodge was explicit in the 1917 code of canon law (canon 2335), and it is implicit in the 1983 code (canon 1374).

"Because the revised code of canon law is not explicit on this point, some drew the mistaken conclusion that the Church's prohibition of Freemasonry had been dropped. As a result of this confusion, shortly before the 1983 code was promulgated, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement indicating that the penalty was still in force. This statement was dated November 26, 1983 and may be found in <Origins> 13/27 (Nov. 15, 1983), 450."

[RichC]

My father was a Mason and my grandmother an Eastern Star.  They never used the "Free" part.  I still have my Dad's masonic ring and Bible.  I don't think the ring is worth anything except sentimental value.  The Bible, however, talks all about the contstruction of Solomon's Temple and how that's where the society began.  Other than that, it's a King James Bible.

RichC  

[bluetoria]

Rich, what is an Eastern Star? Is it like the female version of Freemasonry?

I imagine that much of the hostility towards freemasons is due to fear simply because they are (or have been) quite secretive about their practices. Because these have been secret, people have made their own assumptions that there are all kinds of plots brewing...which I doubt is the case at all.

Apparently, Hitler had a list of British Freemasons whom he intended to have executed as soon as he invaded Britain.

[RichC]

Rich, what is an Eastern Star? Is it like the female version of Freemasonry?

I think so, Bluetoria.  At least that's what she said.

I imagine that much of the hostility towards freemasons is due to fear simply because they are (or have been) quite secretive about their practices. Because these have been secret, people have made their own assumptions that there are all kinds of plots brewing...which I doubt is the case at all.

Apparently, Hitler had a list of British Freemasons whom he intended to have executed as soon as he invaded Britain.

I agree the whole thing is pretty overblown.  Knowing my father the way I did, I would imagine they all just sat around and played poker, or just talked.  

[rskkiya]

Bluetoria
Your remark about Hitler's plan to execute various members of English Freemasonry is very telling - Any fairly well established secret organization with coded terms and connection would be a serious threat to him, had he invaded.

rskkiya

[ChristineM]

Specially for Rskkiya -

(Extracted from the 'The Caledonian Phalanx' - Professor A.G. Cross, Cambridge University)

'By the summer of 1790 the weird and wonderful Russian episode in the lives of the majority of the Scottish workmen came to an end and they were to return to Scotland, undoubtedly glad to see their homeland again but without any hopes of a bright future.   In Sophia they had lived as a tightly-knit community largely isolated from Russian life.   Over the years there had been some marriages, mainly among their own but also with members of the St Petersburg British community, some births, and a few deaths, principally of infants.   The one glimpse into their non-working life is provided by documents in the archive of the Grand Lodge of Scotland which reveales that over forty of the workmen successfully petitioned for a charter of erection of a lodge, which was called the Imperial Scottish Lodge of St Petersburg, and entered as Lodge No.207 in the Grand Lodge's roll.   This lodge was unique in Russia in that it was composed of operative as opposed to symbolic masons, but nothing is known of its activities.'

The archive of the Grand Lodge of Scotland is located in Edinburgh - where Ekaterina Dashkova (Vorontsova)  lived while her son studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

tsaria